Local health officials are urging parents to have their children vaccinated against the flu as the recent outbreak continues.

TONY HOLTSTAFF WRITER

BUNNELL — Anthony Teixeira turned his head and winced as the needle poked through his muscle. The process takes less than two seconds, but the 13-year-old still dreads the anticipation of his flu shot. His 5-year-old sister, Vanessa, was seated on her mother's lap. She was more demonstrative when it was her turn. She started crying, squirming and kicking when the nurse approached her with the shot. Her brother hopped off the exam room table and helped his mother. The two of them held the girl down as she screamed. By the time the bandage was put on, Vanessa had stopped crying. Her mother felt a lot better, too. "When my kids get the flu, they get it really bad," said Grace Teixeira of Palm Coast. "Then it spreads to everybody in the house and I wind up getting it." Teixeira took her children Tuesday afternoon to the Flagler County Health Department. By the time they left, there were 15 remaining doses of the flu vaccine for children ages 3 and older. There were another 22 doses for children younger than 3. Health Department Administrator Patrick Johnson said there was a chance at least one of those two supplies would be gone by the time the next shipment arrives Friday. The Florida Department of Health supplies his office with the vaccines. When it needs more, it gets more. Flagler is in no danger of running out of vaccines, Johnson said. Locally, school-age children are being hit the hardest by the flu, he said. "Flagler County has an older population," said Johnson, "but they will get their flu shots because Medicare pays for it." He also said seniors typically don't visit places where the flu virus is swirling. They usually stay home. By comparison, children go to school and breathe the same air and touch the same doorknobs as others who are transmitting the flu. They also are less likely to get the flu shot, even though their vaccines are more than 90 percent effective in preventing the flu, said Johnson. His agency offers the flu vaccine only to those 18 and younger. The private sector handles flu shots for adults in Flagler. The Volusia County Health Department gives it out to everyone — toddlers, children, adults and seniors. There are different mixtures for different age groups. Health officials in Volusia and Flagler report mild to moderate flu activity. Patients are regularly going to the hospital complaining of influenza-like illness, or ILI. Volusia has seen its number of ILI-related hospital visits more than double compared with the previous year, said Dr. Bonnie Sorensen, director of the Volusia County Health Department. Nearly 3,800 patients have been hospitalized in Volusia from Oct. 1, 2012, to Tuesday, which is an increase of almost 2,000 cases compared with the same time span the previous flu season, according to agency data. Additionally, there were nearly 500 patients with flu-like symptoms who visited Florida Hospital Flagler in Palm Coast, according to the Flagler County Health Department. That is up from 276 visits the previous year. "There's a lot of vaccine out there," Sorensen said. "The manufacturing company has the vaccine. There's vaccine in our community. We order ours before the start of the flu season and we have the ability to order more when we run low." Sorensen said her agency just ordered 200 more doses of vaccines for the 3-18 age group. Her department still has a plentiful stock of vaccines for infants and toddlers, adults and seniors, she said. Seniors get a dose with four times the antigen because they require stronger immunity assistance. Hospitals in other states, such as Georgia and New York, are being flooded with flu patients. Georgia is at "epidemic" levels and New York's governor has declared a flu emergency, according to The Associated Press. "Due to high demand caused by the outbreaks of influenza across the country, some of our locations are experiencing sporadic shortages of the flu vaccine," said Michael DeAngelis, a spokesman for CVS Pharmacy. "(We) have been providing flu shots since early fall and the current high demand is unprecedented for this time of year. We are making every effort to resupply our pharmacies and clinics with vaccine as needed." While the number of flu cases nationally have been noticeably higher this season, Florida has remained ahead of the game as far as providing vaccines to those who seek them. Vaccine demand is up, but ample supply remains, health officials said. Curtis Allen, a spokesman with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, said predicting how prevalent the flu will be nationwide is like estimating the number of hurricanes that will form in the Atlantic at the start of every tropical storm season. "We've definitely had more cases than last year, but each year is unique," Allen said. Late January and early February is usually when the number of flu cases spike. The flu usually makes its way through an area in 10-13 weeks, Allen said. Vaccines come in the form of a shot and a nasal mist. Doctors recommend the mist for healthy people ages 2 through 49. The mist isn't often requested, perhaps because of the notion it contains a live strain of the flu virus. The truth is that it is a very weakened version of the virus and while it can conceivably be passed on to someone, that person would need to have a significantly weakened immune system. Nonetheless, even the remote possibility of passing on the virus is enough to dissuade people from requesting the mist. The consensus among medical experts is that even if the vaccine doesn't completely fend off the virus, the symptoms will be milder for those who are vaccinated compared with those who didn't get their shots. "I don't think people realize the benefit of the vaccine," Sorensen said. "It is the very best way to prevent influenza."

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